How to Crack NDA Exam in First Attempt? | Sept 4, 2022

Hello NDA aspirants, today we are about to start with strategy of one of the most prestigious exams of India, that is, National Defence Academy Exam which is best entry to be part of armed forces. You may be aware about dozens of other Defence entries, but believe me, no other entry can match the career avenues which NDA will provide you. (You will understand this once your attempts are over).

NDA exam will provide you the best career opportunities in Armed forces that too at such a young age (16.5 yrs-19.5yrs). Majority of youth in this NDA age limit will be busy enjoying their college life. You will be living your dream of being part of armed forces and reach top positions in Army, Navy and Air force during your service to mother nation. Moral of writing above 7-8 lines is to tell you importance of every single attempt of NDA and NA exam for defence aspirants.

I am here to provide detail strategy of each and every subject, guide you in this journey of clearing NDA exam 2022, that too free of cost. If you are ready to work hard for your dreams, I am here to guide you in this journey with NDA exam detailed strategy, important chapters to study, best sources, SSB self- preparation, etc.

Here I will share my experiences as well as experiences of thousands of students who have successfully cleared exam with pure self-study from genuine sources (without paid coaching). Today onwards no NDA aspirant can say that he failed to clear NDA exam due to lack of guidance and study sources. So, let’s start with this article on “How to crack NDA exam in first attempt”.

Let us begin with most relevant point, that is, written exam preparation. In first stage of NDA exam, you have to face NDA Maths and NDA General Ability Test papers which contain multiple subjects. Many aspirants fail to clear NDA Written exam because they are confused about sources to study for the exam. I have already made 3 detailed articles on NDA written exam preparation where you will get exact NDA books and even important chapters to study as per syllabus and latest NDA exam pattern trends. Check these NDA exam strategies here:

It is very necessary to read limited sources and revise them multiple times. It took me 7-8 months of research to create this full proof written exam strategy for NDA exam 2022 to score 380+ marks in written exam (40% to 45% marks)

Note: If you think that you will clear NDA exam 2022 with 1 single book, then you are wrong. We need to study best sources for best subjects to tackle a National Level exam conducted by UPSC, for which 4-5 lakh aspirants appear every attempt.

Don’t wait for your 12th Boards exam to end for starting NDA Exam preparation. If you genuinely want to join NDA, you must be mentally prepared to study 5-6 hours daily for a period of at least 12-14 months. Covering the syllabus and revising sources need hard work and time management. Moreover, your 11th and 12th Science syllabus is inline with NDA syllabus. So, you can create an integrated strategy for NDA exam plus boards so that you dedicate quality time for other subjects like Social Science, English com, Current Affairs, etc

This is most important point of this article. While studying NCERT books of Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Maths for your boards preparation, remember that these books covers basics of NDA exam 2022. Majority of your basic study of NDA Maths paper and NDA GAT paper (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) will be covered in 11th standard and 12th standard Board Books. So, do them with perfection.

To be very frank, 70-80% NDA aspirants are also preparing for National Level Engineering entrance or State level CET. Take this positively, as Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology will be automatically prepared if you will study hard for Boards and Engineering entrance test. So that you can dedicate rest of your time on NDA English preparation, Social studies preparation and question paper solving.

Science background students will not get much time to study Polity, Geography, Current affairs in detail. But they have a plus point in NDA exam that they can score very high in Maths, English and PCB as compared to other counterparts. You must see these topic questions from previous year papers and study them parallel when you are preparing for board exam. 50 English questions in GAT paper are highly scoring if you do practice questions as told in detailed strategy. Even 40/50 correct attempt is possible if you study grammar rules and solve previous year papers in time constraint.

11th Standard is not a rest year. Start your NDA exam preparation from 11th standard only. Some mathematical topics like Calculus (Integration and differentiation), Trigonometry, etc need good conceptual clarity and practice which demands time. So, if you will start preparation in 11th standard, you will get an upper edge over other aspirants.

2-3 months before board exam will be busy in Practical, Submission and Boards preparation. So, make realistic plans for NDA exam preparation considering this time loss.

You can give NDA exam from 16.5 to 19.5 years of age. Actually its 16.5 to 18 years, because many aspirants do not give NDA exam after their admission in Engineering / any other degree. So, in this case, your first attempt will be in 12th standard itself and if you will wait for syllabus completion in college or coaching, you will end up scoring very low marks in Maths and even PCB subjects.

So, make sure that you are self enlightened to complete your syllabus in time and revise before exam. (In today’s era, there are many free youtube videos containing NCERT PCM chapterwise teaching videos of 11th and 12th Standard which you must utilize in NDA exam preparation.

85% aspirants will never read newspaper editorials for NDA preparation. But I will like to tell you that only 2-3 daily editorial reading will help you drastically in scoring 40/50 correct in English section of GAT, Current affairs questions and it will be highly helpful at the time of SSB interview.

Intially it will take time, but with practice you will be able to cover 2-3 editorials in 25-30 minutes. You can choose any English newspaper, but I will recommend The Hindu newspaper (Offline or online)

Being a National level examination conducted by UPSC, difficulty of questions is increasing day by day. So, we need to be dynamic and study from best sources for each subject. I have provided exact books and even important chapters to study for NDA written examination, so you can rely on it.

Questions asked in NDA exam are moderate to difficult level, but 4-5 lakh NDA applications are received for each attempt which makes the exam highly competitive resulting in higher cutoff marks for every NDA written exam.

Remember that you are not studying for doing PhD in any subject. We are studying these subjects to clear written exam of NDA. So, you need to be very specific in choosing the sources you read. This can be possible only if you know the exact NDA syllabus and types of questions asked in NDA exams.

No question repeat in NDA exam, but if you will analyze previous year question papers, you will come to know that same pattern of questions can be seen in written exam, especially for Maths. Your analysis of previous year asked questions plays a very vital role.

After clearing written exam and SSB interview, total of both the stages is done to calculate the merit list. If your score in written exam is on border case, probability is that you can be merit out. Also, if you want to be part of branch (Army, Navy, Airforce) you desire, your score must be high enough to qualify for that branch of armed forces.

So, always aim to score 45-50% marks in written exam, that is, 135+ marks in Maths and 270+ marks in General Ability Test to be on a safer side and get the Branch (Army, Navy, Airforce) of your choice.

On an average, every NDA aspirant gets minimum 4-5 attempts. But it doesn’t mean that you give every attempt just for the sake of giving exam. You just need 1 serious attempt to clear NDA exam. So, focus on upcoming attempt which will be after 8-10 months for which you can prepare as per detailed strategies given above. NDA exam 2022 detailed strategy will take time, but it will 100% give results if followed rigorously.

In these 2 years of college life, you are too busy in written exam preparation for NDA as well as other exams which are lined up after every three months and you forget to prepare for SSB. SSB interview preparation is not possible in 2-3 months as officer like qualities and good psychology is developed over a period of time. You need to prepare for SSB tests and implement officer like qualities in day to day life. You must first know the exact SSB interview process and then develop yourself accordingly to qualify those tests.

You must also be physically fit which needs to be a part of your lifestyle over a period of time.

Questions will never repeat in any exam conducted by UPSC. But if you will analyze the English section of GAT paper and Maths paper, most of the questions are predictable and pattern of question remains same. So, while studying for NDA exam 2022, you must give more focus on these topics.

I have already done analysis of previous year question papers and created a “Weightage of important topics in NDA written exam”. You just need to have this list of weightage while studying so that you can focus more on those topics.

Also Read: NDA Exam Syllabus 2022 (Chapter-wise weightage of each NDA paper)

Many aspirants spent time on topics which they love to solve or read (Interesting topics). But what is its use if no question will be asked from that particular type? So, your time spent on topic study must be directly proportional to its weightage in written exam.

For example: Weightage of Calculus questions in Maths paper is very high. So, irrespective of your individual choice, it’s expected that you spend more time learning these topics so that more questions can be attempted at the time of actual NDA Maths paper (this is called as Smart study)

Having knowledge is different thing and performing best in exam is different thing. You need to master both these things by solving minimum 10 previous year papers for NDA Maths and NDA GAT which must be solved in given time constraint. You will notice that in each test your score will go on increasing and at the end of 10th test, you will be ready for giving actual NDA exam 2022. (these previous year question papers are available free of cost on www.upsc.gov.in )

Many a times aspirants have good knowledge about the topic and even know how to solve questions asked in exam but are unable to solve them in real life exam scenario. This is because of exam fear.

Solving 10 test before actual exam will solve this major issue faced by many aspirants.

Also Read: NDA Result (Written exam and Final Result)

It’s a myth that Paid Coaching is must to clear NDA written exam and SSB interview. Main role of coaching is to guide you in your preparation and tell best sources to prepare from. I have included all those things and ample guidance from thousands of aspirants in detailed strategy articles, so be ready for self study as per strategies provided for NDA Maths preparation and NDA GAT preparation.

Many aspirants think that NDA exam is far easy than IIT JEE Exam, but they must know that NDA Exam is test of many subjects at a time and aspirant need to clear SSB interview to be part of NDA, which makes the process much hard than any other exam at 10+2 level.

Underestimating UPSC NDA exam may lead you to failure for sure. So, take exam seriously and work hard to overcome milestones coming in this 1 year long process.

You must have a bird’s eye view about this exam and be ready for upcoming challenges with your preparation. If you don’t have a year long plan or strategy, it’s difficult for you to clear the 4 stages of this exam (Written exam, SSB interview, Medical Test, Final Merit List)

1 year of isolation from Social media can give you desired results by keeping you focused on your target. But make sure that you use technology and internet in your preparation. You are mature enough to know what is good for you and what is bad for you. Your Maths and GAT preparation can be accelerated if you can use the technology efficiently.

Also Check: NDA Eligibility 2022 (Things every NDA aspirant must know)

At the time of examination, you will remember only those things which you have revised. So, it’s better to limit your resources and revise them multiple times before actual exam.

(Using multiple sources may seem helpful, but it has killed many dreams in different examinations)

Last but not the least, you must believe you can. Let the things happen at psychological level. Along with preparation, also imagine that you will be part of National Defence academy very soon. If you will keep changing goals or bring negative thought in your mind, it will be a disaster in your NDA dream.

And Keep your dream alive even if it’s your last attempt. Generally many aspirants leave their NDA preparation after admission in Engineering college or any other degree.

You have UPSC NDA Exam Maths and GAT paper detailed strategies to crack NDA Written exam 2022. I will be there to guide you in this journey, now it’s your time to take responsibility on your shoulder. These 21 points of NDA exam preparation must be implemented rigorously if you want to be part of National Defence Academy.

Hopefully your common question of “How to crack NDA written exam in first attempt” is clear now.

And if you still have any doubts, feel free to ask questions in comment section below. I will answer within 24 hours and waiting for your genuine reviews so that we can improve content on our website.

Jai hind !